My desire is that the dream giver continues to shape this heart into his.

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Boiled Toad

Have you ever heard what happens to a frog when it is boiled?

Try not to gag at the image of Kermit being cooked alive!

Seriously though, they say if you put the frog in tepid water and it slowly warms up he will not try to escape. But if you throw him into a pot of hot water he will instantly try to jump out.

Kind of parallel's with what's been rolling around in my mind.

Some days I feel like we are slowly being cooked alive. All the TV and media and politically correct stuff is in our faces 24/7. We are slowly being lulled into a deep sleep and we don't even recognize it!

I am feeling an urgent need these days to root my children in Faith and Moral Values. I am constantly asking myself "am I doing enough to prepare them? Will they be able to stand when it is time?" I have to explain things to them that I really would rather not. But the culture we live in is forcing me to address it with them.

The battle is daunting. The stakes are high! This is no time to be a lazy parent! We are in for a fight!

My kids are all huge book worms. They love literature and that is great, but I have become concerned by what is being propagated for their young minds to read. You know someone, somewhere, is brilliant enough to know that the younger they can get children's minds the better chance their message has of sticking!

So why then wouldn't the opposite be true? The younger my children are when introduced to the truth and to high moral character, the stronger they will be when it's their turn to stand.

Jalen had a prophecy prayed over him at his baby dedication from the pastor of the church we were attending at the time. He said God showed him that Jalen would be like an arrow going out into the darkness. I don't know exactly what that will look like but I know that if I am not diligent in my work here with them, none of my precious arrows will be prepared to fight the battle that has been chosen for them.

In my desperation I have done several things through the years to get God's word to their heart. One of the things I started when they were little babies and toddlers. Every night we would have them listen to Bible Stories on tape as they were going to sleep. We found that by doing this they would actually drift off to sleep while their subconscience was still taking in the messages.

The set we like the most is "The Word and Song Bible". Malaina at age 4 would recite long passages of scripture and Bible stories simply from what she had heard through those tapes. Malaina now has her own quiet times and listens to other music (or often Chuck Swindol)at night. But our boys and Sophie still listen to tapes.

We also have CD's that have scripture verses to song. Very effective for remembering them!

We try to keep an open dialogue with all of them about faith issues. We have had numerous conversations about "what if this isn't really real?" "How can we be sure"? "Why does God make bad things happen"? "Sometimes I think God is mean". They ask some pretty tough questions, but I never want them to feel ashamed or afraid to talk with us.

And of course prayer. We need supernatural help every day! We also need to be reminded that the one who created our little people loves them more then even we do.

There will be a day when I will no longer tuck them in and say prayers with them. How well am I preparing their hearts for what lies ahead? I will never do it perfectly and many days I fail them horribly. But I have been inspired in these last days to make an effort to instill in them the love of a King who is coming soon!

Amen about the boiled toad! What I have determined to be the focus of my "chats" with my age-varied kiddos is RESPECT, and I'm not just singin' the song. :) I have come to believe that most if not all, the world's problems stem from lack of respect - of each other, parents, girl/boy friends, God's Word, on and on. Of course many conversations beyond respect have also taken place. It's a never-ending job, but oh so important!

By the way, love the pictures you have in your header! They are always a mood-lifter for me!

You got me started on the Bible CD's at night. Eva listens to them (although lately she has preferred Christian radio stations). Many of my friends have also bought the CD's. They are the BEST.

I hear you loud and clear on this post and could NOT agree with you more. Eva is quite shy about her faith...she loves to pray before meals, but when I try to start a conversation with her she tends to be pretty quiet and not say much. This worries me. I feel the best I can do is just keep talking.

This is excellent. You brought up so many of the points that I think about often...sometimes I get SO overwhelmed when I think of the world we live in that I am raising my child in. I don't want to be that lazy parent...I want to be prepared when my girl asks me those tough questions, and I want to be able to equip her with the right answers. Well said!